Harvest generally wraps up at our house on the fringes meaning we are further away from home in smaller and in some cases a less productive environment.
Yet there is an appeal to a community whose main intersection has little enough traffic for just a stop sign rather than a light. I'm describing towns like Kirksville, Blakesburg, Lovilla, and Columbia.
You definitely don't enter and exit the farm to market roads in a hurry. Since the combines are in smaller fields there is more time to enjoy the scenery.
The farm yards have lots of memories of a life of a generation or two ago. It looks quiet, less complicated, and in some cases appealing.
Yet all that is left on most farm yards are the memories. The buildings are either empty, falling in, or gone completely. Back in the day farmers in these communities raised their families on a couple of hundred acres and a cow herd. We have lost that simple, honest, small town lifestyle.
Remember as a kid playing with the neighbor kids. There was always this little Johnny that would break the rules in order to win and when you mentioned to his mother that her little Johnny was cheating she got mad at you and told you to play nice. Well unfortunately we still deal with folks like that today in this cultures "win at all cost" business world.
Remember when little Johnny, who had all the toys, would decide he didn't want to play with you anymore, pick up all his toys, and go home, leaving you in the sandbox wondering what just happened. Well we experienced that this week as well.
Life doesn't allow us to make a living anymore driving down tree covered roads without a worry in the world. On the other hand who we are and how we treat and relate to others are way more important than winning at all cost in a fast pace world.
Around 1960 John Deere took a big step and left their two cylinder johnny poppers for a bigger smoother engine the market was asking for. From 1964 to 1972 they built 184,000 4020s. They have become a classic. Have you ever thought of how do people define you? What do they see? And how will you be remembered?
In Holland our name meant a scrubbing brush. Not sure how that relates to anything. However today in our country we have a responsibility in who we are, what we are the face of, and how we treat others.
I love watching the world wake up. A sunrise is a promise that God has given us another new day. Gina, you are right when you say we do our best thinking in early mornings.
I'm out of time so I'll wrap up. We were all made in the image of our Creator and have been given a purpose. Love and serve God with all our heart, love and serve others as much or more than ourselves, and we will accomplish our purpose and give honesty and integrity to our name.
"Choose a good name over riches, and to be held in high esteem is better than silver or gold." Proverbs 22:1
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